Cincinnati Reds notes: When Jose Peraza finally gets an off day, Suarez will replace him at shortstop​

Reds infielder Scooter Gennett talks about his sore shoulder, which has kept him from playing in the field since last weekend.
The Enquirer/Bobby Nightengale

Cincinnati Reds second baseman Jose Peraza (9) barehands a ground ball off the bat of Milwaukee Brewers catcher Manny Pina (9) in the top of the eighth inning of the MLB National League game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Wednesday, May 2, 2018. The Reds fell to 7-24 with a 3-1 loss to the Brewers. (Photo: Sam Greene)

Reds manager Jim Riggleman plans on giving shortstop Jose Peraza an off day at some point.

Friday night was Peraza’s 31st start in 32 games. He’s started every game since April 2. Cliff Pennington made that start. Pennington has since been demoted to Triple-A.

Pennington was specifically brought in as a backup shortstop.

So, with him gone, when Peraza’s off day comes, who plays short? Third baseman Eugenio Suarez or utility guy Alex Blandino.

“That’s a good question,” Riggleman said. “I think we would move Suarez over there and put Blandino at third. It’s a little bit of coin flip.”

Suarez came up as a shortstop and has played 180 games in the big league there. He made one appearance last year. He hasn’t taken balls at short since spring training.

“Not one,” Suarez said. “But I know how to play the position.”

Peraza is a hard guy to sit right now. Going into Friday, he was hitting .327 since he started the season 0-for-12, and he had hit safely in nine of his last 10 games with a .391/.408/.522 slash line.

“He’s good a player,” Riggleman said. “He has a knack for putting the bat on the ball. He’s a guy who has not generally walked much. He’s played a fine shortstop. I don’t know the last time he missed an inning.

HIT PARADE: The Reds were hitting .220 with a .299 on-base percentage and a .319 slugging percentage on the day Bryan Price was fired. Since he was fired, they’re hitting .271 with a .357 on-base and a .412 slugging.

Over the last 10 games, the Reds lead the majors in walks (51) and on-base (.371).

“I think it’s one of those things,” said Jim Riggleman, who replaced Price. “That’s kind what we did last year, but last year we hit homers. The on-base wasn’t staying up there throughout the year, but we did hit home runs. I think we’re going to hit home runs this year. We’re just in a kind of dry time now.

“I’m glad to see guys taking some walks. When you have those kinds of stats, you’ve got to turn those into some wins.”

Riggleman is an old-school manager. His first big league manager gig was in San Diego in 1992. WAR and OPS were uncommon terms then. But managers saw the value in high on-base players then.

“We always knew,” Riggleman said. “We didn’t have a label for it. Those three-acronyms we put are on stuff is very valuable. We were using it without knowing it.”

SCOOTER UPDATE: The plan is for Scooter Gennett to return to the lineup Saturday. Gennett threw Friday. It was the first time he’s thrown since aggravating his shoulder on a week ago.

“Scooter feels good,” Riggleman said. “Steve Baumann, our trainer, wanted to get him a good workout on the field (Friday). He could play. But we’ll hold off, maybe use him as a pinch-hitter, a double-switch situation.